Breslow’s was one of my favorite places to go as a youngster during the late 1940s and early 1950s. I know the store was there as early as 1946. My mom would often shop at the Grand Union grocery store a few doors to the east on Essex St., and if I was with her I could usually persuade her to take a detour to Breslow’s.
At that time the entry to the store was through a somewhat dilapidated screen door and then through an old front door. The cash register and luncheonette were to the right of the doors as you entered (east side) and the newspapers and magazines were at the rear of the store on the left side (west side). The rest of the store had counters of merchandise that appealed to kids. The store was usually busy on weekends, especially the luncheonette crowd on Sunday mornings.
Some of the items I would buy occasionally were rubber balls, paddle balls, kites, yo-yos, and balsa wood gliders. The items I would nearly always buy with my weekly allowance were Topps baseball cards. I kept the cards and usually threw away the bubble gum. I remember other collectable cards that were also available from year to year such as wild west cards and U.S. license plate cards.
Regarding store personnel, it is interesting that kduerr53 mentioned an Old Lady Breslow. I don’t remember her, but I do remember a person called Old Man Breslow. He was a thin, elderly, bald man who could often be seen scurrying between the luncheonette and the cash register. It seemed to me that he was always quite busy. I also knew one of the Breslow boys who used to live on Sutton Ave. He used to say his father worked at “our store,” but I’m not sure what his exact relationship would have been to Old Man Breslow.